Charging Sona in robocalls case has fractured Guelph Conservatives

Several members of the Guelph Conservative riding association have left the group because they are unhappy with the way the central party reacted when local election worker Michael Sona was charged in connection with a fraudulent robocall that sent hundreds of Guelph, Ont., residents to the wrong poll on election day.

Sona, 24, is to face a single charge of “having wilfully prevented or endeavoured to prevent an elector from voting at an election.” Sona, who was 22 at the time of the election, says he is innocent, and has done media interviews complaining that the Conservative party is trying to make him the fall guy for what happened in Guelph.

It’s a message that appears to have connected with some local Conservatives.

Marty Burke, the candidate in the last election, has left the board that runs the local Conservative riding association, as has his wife, Trish, and several other longtime volunteers. Burke could not be reached for comment, but sources say local Conservatives are upset that the party welcomed the news that Sona was charged.

“In 2011 we reached out to Elections Canada when we heard of wrongdoing in Guelph and did all we could to assist them,” said the statement party spokesman Fred DeLorey when Sona was charged. “We are pleased that Elections Canada’s work has progressed to this point.”

Read more: New rules needed to prevent another robocalls episode, says elections chief

When Sona was charged last month, Burke told the Guelph Tribune that he was surprised.

“I am very surprised that this charge has resulted from the (Elections Canada) investigation,” he said. “I am sanguine – as I am sure Michael must be as well – with regard to the final outcome. A charge is not a conviction – not even close.”

On Saturday, the riding association had an event at the Guelph Golf and Curling Club to focus on the Conservatives winning Guelph in the next election. The guest speaker was John Carmichael, Conservative MP for Don Valley West, who told local supporters how he managed to win his riding on his third attempt.

Carmichael said Wednesday that he didn’t hear anything about people leaving the riding association.

Read more: 30 complaints about fraudulent poll changes filed to Elections Canada

“I didn’t discuss any of that,” he said. The Burkes did not attend the event. Neither the president nor the communications director of the riding association replied to emails, and DeLorey said he had no comment.

Sona’s lawyer, Norm Boxall, is expected to appear in Guelph Friday without Sona. At the time that Sona was charged, Boxall called for a public inquiry into the affair.

“I cannot help but comment, that if the government was interested in the public being fully informed and the issue of robocalls being properly addressed, a full public inquiry would be called, rather than a charge laid against a single individual who held a junior position on a single campaign and who clearly lacked the resources and access to the data required to make the robocalls,” he said.

Elections Canada has said that their investigation into both the Guelph robocall and other calls across the country are ongoing.